That’s when Gloria arrived for her evening cleaning shift. She pushed her cart down the hall toward Gregory’s office, humming softly as she did every night.
Noah walked beside her, holding his old laptop, planning to do his homework while his mother worked.
But as he approached the conference room, Noah heard panic and voices inside. He peered through the glass door and saw that all the computer screens were flashing red.
Her curiosity immediately led her to wonder what was happening. She recognized the pattern on the screens. She had read about attacks like this in the cybersecurity forums she frequented online.
Gloria tried to walk by quickly, not wanting to interrupt important matters. But Noah stopped her.
He watched the screens. His young mind analyzed the data flowing through them. He saw the attack vectors, the encryption patterns, the malware structure.
And suddenly he understood exactly what was happening and how to stop it. « Mom, » Noah said softly. « They’re being hacked. A really serious hack. »
And they don’t know how to fix it. Gloria glanced nervously at the room full of powerful executives. That’s none of our business, Miho. Let’s go.
We have work to do. But I can help, Noah insisted. I know I can. Gloria looked at her son and saw the confidence in his eyes.
I had learned to trust Noah’s instincts when it came to computers.
She had fixed her neighbors’ laptops when an expensive repair shop said it was impossible. She had recovered deleted photos from her landlord’s phone when everyone else had given up.
She understood technology in ways that seemed almost magical. « Okay, » Gloria said quietly. « But be polite. »
« They are important people. » Noah took a deep breath and opened the conference room door.
All heads turned to look at the small Black boy with the battered laptop. Gregory Thompson, surrounded by his elite team, stared at him with confusion and barely concealed irritation.
« Who are you? » Gregory asked. « This is a private meeting. You shouldn’t be here. » « I’m Noah, sir. » « Gloria’s son. »
Noah pointed to his mother, who stood nervously in the doorway. « I think I can help him. »
Victor Hayes laughed. A high-pitched, dismissive laugh. « Kid, we’ve got the best cybersecurity experts in the world trying to fix this. »
« What makes you think you can help? » Noah didn’t even flinch. He was used to adults not taking him seriously because he recognized the pattern of attacks.
It is based on a research article published six months ago on adaptive polymorphic encryption.
Most of the professionals haven’t even read it, but I have, and I know its weaknesses. The room fell silent.
Gregory studied the boy more closely. There was something about Noah’s quiet confidence that was impossible to ignore. « How old are you? » Gregory asked.
« Ten, sir. But I’ve been programming since I was six. »
One of the computer specialists, a woman named Amanda, leaned forward.
« Even if you understand the theory, stopping this attack requires access to the core systems, which we cannot do because we are locked out. »
« Not through the front door, » Noah agreed. « But there’s a back door. Every system has vulnerabilities that programmers don’t even know exist. I can find them. »
Gregory looked at his team, who shook their heads skeptically. He watched the screens that showed his fortune continuing to dwindle.
I had nothing to lose. Fine, Gregory said. You have five minutes. If you can’t help, security will escort you out.
Nah headed to the main terminal. Her fingers began to fly across the keyboard at incredible speed.
The lines of code scrolled by faster than most people could read.
The room watched in stunned silence as this 10-year-old boy worked with the skill of someone decades older.
« There, » Noah said after 3 minutes, « I found a vulnerability in the system’s memory management. »
The malware is using 98% of the processing capacity to maintain its encryption.
« If I manage to increase the remaining 2%, it will lock up for about 7 seconds. Enough time to partially regain control. » « That’s impossible, » said one of the senior engineers.
We tried similar approaches and they failed. You tried conventional methods, Noah explained patiently. I’m going to access the hardware firmware directly from beneath the operating system.
It’s risky. If I make a mistake, the whole network could collapse permanently, but it’s the only way. Gregory felt his heart pounding.
Entrusting his entire company to a 10-year-old boy was madness. But seeing another $20 million vanish, seeing the helpless frustration on the faces of his team of experts, he made a decision.
« Do it! » Gregory said. Noah nodded. His fingers moved even faster, typing code that looked like poetry and math combined. Everyone held their breath. Then Noah pressed Enter.
The screens flickered and went black for three terrifying seconds. Nothing happened. Then they came back online, but different. The red warning was gone.
The system’s normal colors had returned. « I have partial control, » Noah said calmly.
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